Nature's Bakery Oatmeal Crumble Bars - Apple

Ah! I really liked the strawberry flavor of these, and in general I like apple things more than strawberry things, but I think the strawberry flavor might still be best here, even though I do like these as well. Apple is more muted, dryer, and way more crumbly, and strawberry is sweeter and brighter and moister. I do recognize that this could be a sampling error, but even just on the flavor, these were less flavorful than I'd expected. More bar than filling, and not a lot of the cinnamon-spice vibe you might expect from an apple oatmeal bar. Love the nut-free-normalcy these exude though.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Oscar Mayer Bologna

Bologna is gross unless it's sweet bologna. There, I said it. I know it sounds like the "sweet" meat would be the gross one, trust me, I know, but I just can't get into this amorphous lunch meat. I've tried it fried, I've tried it with cheese, I've tried it in rice like the little hot dog meat pieces it is, but none of it works for me. None of it makes me vom or anything, I just don't like it. At its best, it is a neutral mix of italian meats & hot dog flavors, that you can kind of mask with sauces or other toppings. Why would someone make a hot dog into deli meat? Like, what are we doing here, guys? At least you get a lot of slices in one pack. And as far as I know, it's allergy-free.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Martin's Butter Bread

The name "butter bread" makes me feel dirty, but this is a solid white bread for the times when you need a white bread. It is a little bit "sugary" for my taste, but it's not over the top or anything. Texture-wise, a slice gets crusty/firm really quickly, which I find OK, I guess. The taste is buttery and a little potatoey, but not too weird. Decent overall, and holds up to moist sauces well enough. Most importantly, no nut/seed allergens (except possible sesame cross-contam). 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Katz Cinnamon Donuts

These were quite good for a gluten-free dough dessert. They did have a weird floppy texture though. Either floppy or frozen, you choose. I think heating for about 25 seconds worked best. They had a less corny taste than the donut holes, and the cinnamon sugar coating was copious, oily, and tasty. 

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 7/10

a la mode Wired Pint

This is great! I don't know if I was just really in the mood for ice cream or what, but I think this is one of my top flavors. It is a creamy coffee flavored ice cream with a decent amount of tasty small chocolate bits added in. Not too complex, but very solid for what it is. No complaints!

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 8/10

Tostitos Chunky Habanero Salsa

Why did I order this HABANERO salsa? I suppose I was just looking for a safe way to feel something. But this was not safe! it was hot! and made my mouth feel spicy >:[ so I don't think I'll get it again. I will endorse that it is hotter than any other tostito's salsa I've tried, although not insanely so (I did still finish the jar). There isn't too much flavor beyond that, it's similar to the other salsas they make, just more burnier (and slightly sweeter/roasted tomato flavor). If only the rest of my life evoked as much feeling as this salsa (I guess).

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Truly Grass-Fed Aged Cheddar

Cheddar? I hardly know 'er. I love cheese (who doesn't), but when I first opened this I thought "oh no, it must have gone off" because it had a very weird Wet and also Crumbly texture going on. But I still ate it because who cares, and I seem OK, so maybe it was meant to be that way. I'm not sure if that's due to the aged-ness or the grass-feeding or the Irish-ness or if it was in fact off. Anyway, it tasted like a good white cheddar. A little complex, not like the gross generic sharp cheddar blocks from the store. More classy. But, it didn't melt in my noodles, so perhaps best served for a cheese plate rather than cooking. Would buy again. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Sun Chips - Harvest Cheddar

These sun chips are aggressively "fine". I'd expect cheddar to be one of the more delicious flavors, but I think it's actually a bottom-tier sunchip, below the salsa/regular ones. The plusses are still substantial: a nut free chip with a fun shape, decent flavor, and surprising amount of fiber. I'm always happy to have (non-pea-protein) sunchips, but this flavor isn't really cheesy, it's just neutral. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Brookside Dark Chocolate - Açaí and Blueberry

Whew, I know these say "may contain almonds" which is my one safe nut, but they still make me super scared to eat, especially since they used to be may-contain-peanut. But I gotta trust Hershey labelling. These didn't taste quite as good as the red flavor, even ignoring my fear -- they were mainly sweet balls with a dark choco coating. And the inside fruit bit was very firm, not chewy like I remember the other ones being. It's OK, but even if I had no allergies I don't think I'd yearn for these. They are classy though, and a fun shape!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Dunkin' 100% Colombian K-Cups

Apparently this is different than their "Original Blend" k-cups, although you coulda fooled me. It was good, like most coffee is, and I have no issues with it. I don't know if I could pick it out of a lineup though!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

De Cecco Elbows

Hm. Despite liking elbows a lot, and liking DeCecco, these didn't knock me outta the park. They do cook pretty fast (maybe 6 minutes, not 5), and you get 4 massive servings or 6 normal servings, which is good for one box, but because they're so small I guess you don't get the pasta satisfaction that I want from a pasta. Maybe I'm just in a spaghetti phrase. These are fine but I prefer Big Elbows!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Partake Soft Baked Ginger Snaps

These were much better than the previous Partakings I've partook, but of course, this flavor doesn't exist anymore in Soft form. They tasted like normal human cookies, down to the shape, texture, and ~mouthfeel~. Actually the taste was the weirdest thing about them, since they had a very sharp ginger flavor (real ginger, not candy), which was pleasant but definitely overwhelming. Spicy, if you will. Not at all similar to a ginger snap or ginger bread that I've ever had, more like Asian food or maybe a strong ginger beer with less sugar. Anyway, I liked them but didn't love them, and would be curious to try the other Soft Baked ones instead.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Mrs T's Cheddar Bacon Mini Pierogies

Mrs. T! I missed ya. These are cute little mini pierogies, which I prefer to the full size ones. You get 11 in a serving! That's so many! They also cook super fast. This flavor really tastes overwhelmingly of bacon, but it's real and not fake soy meat, so I like it pretty well. Solid flavor.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Enjoy Life Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bites

My overall take on these: they just aren't that good. Nut free, soy free, sunflower free, lentil free, all good qualities, but the egg/milk/wheat-freeness really hurts these I think (sorry fam). Texturewise, the random crisped rice in there is very weird, and the taste is vaguely minty more than marshmallowy. They are chocolatey too, it's true, and crumbly. Not BAD, but very strange. No actual marshmallows in there either, just crispies and choco chips. I think the mint flavor is better because at least it tastes like what it says it is?

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Land O Lakes Salted Caramel Cocoa Mix

This was alright; better than the chocolate one, I think. It had a strong caramel flavor and scent, but it was warm and creamy which is what you want in a hot cocoa. Plus a unique flavor compared to plain chocolate, and not super duper artificial.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Cella's Milk Chocolate Covered Cherries

I always assumed the milk choco version of these would be significantly better than the dark choco version, but to be honest, I didn't get a huge difference! They're both just extremely sweet. The chocolate here is maybe a little softer, and they're still nut free and cute, but the overwhelming sweetness and low quality chocolate (sorry Tootsie) means that these aren't my favorite candy, alas. My parents got me these though, and that's very sweet of them.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Dark Chocolate Milano

These tasted very classic to me, and I think that's because this is just Original Milano (????). Well, anyway, original milano is pretty dang good. These were kept on my parents' sunroom, so they were cold, which I think actually made them better. Nice airy biscuit, good chocolate. They taste of the Pepperidge Farm cookie assortments I used to eat from as a kiddo, which are now too nutty for me. That is, they taste classic and elegant! Yum.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

White Fudge Covered Oreo

Oh Oreo, how iridescent you are! Inside my stomach!

This is a cute little pack of exactly 1 Oreo, so you know it's a decadent varietal. The fudge covering is exactly that on other fudge covered cookies (what are they, Keebler elf cookies? Something), very sugary and not super thick or milky. It works pretty well with the oreo, and it does feel decadent. And it didn't kill me. Pretty cool little treat.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Land O Lakes Chocolate Supreme Cocoa Mix

This is a very stylish packet, and it looks big, so I used my big mug. But I think that was unwise (or I didn't mix/heat it enough), because it tasted a little bit watery and weak. Otherwise tasted like typical chocolate flavor hot chocolate, a little milky and quite sweet. Pleasant, fine, but now I have posher tastes in hochos (thanks, Dean's Sweets).

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

SuperSeedz - Sea Salt

Pumpkin seeds are one of the great snacks that make me feel like a normal human! The only seed I eat, I think. I actually like biting the shell off (or eating it), so these shell-less pumpkin seeds are actually not my preference, even though I get why people prefer it. Anyway, these are a fun, not sweet snack that is nut free (and actually says so on the packaging!). They mostly taste like salt, and I like that. You can also eat a bunch of them, and I like that too. Cute packaging, decent company, I hope they stick around!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10